Wentao Li, PhD, a recent recipient of a TraCS $2K award, received the 2018 EMGS New Investigator Travel Award. This merit-based award is given in recognition of excellence in research, research progress, and promise as a long-term contributor to research in topics related to the mission of EMGS. Dr. Li received the award and a check for US $750 at the awards ceremony on September 25th, at the 49th Annual Meeting of the EMGS at the Hyatt Regency in San Antonio, Texas.

Wentao also received the 2018 Postdoctoral Award for Research Excellence (PARE) from UNC Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. He is among 10 award winners. Each year, the UNC Postdoctoral Scholars Awards for Research Excellence are given in recognition of the research promise demonstrated by individual postdoctoral scholars. The awards are open to postdoctoral scholars in all disciplines and are designed to assist postdoctoral scholars in their continued professional development by supporting the recipients in conference travel, purchasing books, lab materials, or engaging in other scholarly activities that directly enhance the individual’s professional growth. Each recipient receives a monetary award of a $1000 along with a plaque.

Dr. Li trains as a postdoctoral research associate in the lab of Dr. Aziz Sancar, distinguished professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics. Dr. Li’s research has been focused on understanding the mechanisms of DNA damage and repair induced by environmental carcinogens. In particular, he has developed a novel translesion eXcision Repair-sequencing (tXR-seq) method for genome-wide mapping of excision repair at single-nucleotide resolution and applied it to generate repair maps of UV- and benzo[a]pyrene-induced DNA damage in human. These nucleotide-resoution dynamic repair maps should aid in future repair and mutagenesis studies.

The 2018 PARE Awards ceremony will be held on Tuesday, November 27 from 1:00 PM-3: 00 PM. Dr. Li and the other awardees will give a brief presentation at the ceremony.